PERSONAL SKILLS AND QUALITIES
In addition to managing others, supervisors must be able to manage themselves. This,
too, is a skill that can be developed through awareness and practice. It means doing
your best no matter what you have to cope with, putting your best foot forward and
your best side out, keeping your cool. It means setting a good example; it means selfdiscipline.
You cannot direct others effectively if you cannot handle yourself. It also
means having self-control and supporting your own supervisor even when you personally
disagree with a decision or action.
Managing yourself also means thinking positively. According to Manz, two different
patterns of thinking are opportunity thinking and obstacle thinking. When
faced with a challenging situation, opportunity thinkers concentrate on constructive
ways of dealing with the circumstances, whereas obstacle thinkers focus on why the
situation is impossible and retreat. Let’s say that you are a supervisor and your evening
dishwasher calls in sick. If you are an opportunity thinker, you’ll look at the work
schedule to see who else may be able to fill in and take steps to contact them. If you
are an obstacle thinker, you’ll think there’s nothing you can do except ask the staff
to switch to disposable dishes, even though you know it costs a lot more and the
food doesn’t look as good. Work on being an opportunity thinker, and if you make
mistakes, learn from them and don’t make yourself miserable. Everyone makes mistakes,
even the people at the top of the organization chart. Guilt and worry will wear
you down; self-acceptance and self-confidence will increase your energy.
Your own moods will affect your workers, too; they can run right through your
whole department. Your employees watch you more carefully than you think; they
can tell if your day is going fine or if you just had a frustrating meeting with your
boss. When you get right down to it, your employees need a boss with a consistently
positive outlook and attitude on the job.
You need to build a good, strong self-image. You have obligations to yourself as
well as to others. Give yourself credit when you are right; face your mistakes when
you are wrong and correct them for the future. You need to know yourself well,
including your strengths and weaknesses, to work out your personal goals and values
as they apply to your job, to know where you stand and where you are going.
In addition to having faith in your own ability to reach goals, you need to believe
that employees will perform effectively when given a reasonable chance. You need to realize
that you are also responsible for developing your employees through techniques such
as coaching and counseling.
Another pair of useful personal qualities are flexibility and creativity. No hospitality
manager can survive for long without flexibility, the ability to respond effectively to
constantly changing situations and problems, to adapt theory to the reality of the
moment, to think creatively because there are no pat answers. You must be able to
respond to changes in the industry, too; yesterday’s solutions will not solve tomorrow’s
problems. These again are skills that you can learn and practice; you do not have to
be born with them.
Finally, being a supervisor requires high energy levels and the ability to work under
great pressure. The time pressure in the hospitality field is unlike that in many other
businesses; the meals must be served in a timely fashion; the rooms have to be ready
in time for the next guest; the diabetic hospital patient needs his snacks at 2:00 P.M.
and 8:00 P.M., period. Much stamina is needed to deal with these pressures.
You need to make a conscious and deliberate decision to be a manager. Here are
three questions you must answer: 1. Do you really want it? Is there something about being a manager in this hospitality
business (or wherever you are) that provides the responsibility, the challenge, and
the fulfillment you want from the work you do?
2. What is the cost? Without tips or overtime pay, you’ll probably make less money
than some of your workers do. The hours are long, you’ll work on weekends when
everyone else is playing, the responsibility is unremitting, and the frustration level
is high. You are squarely in the middle of all the hassle: Your employer is telling
you, ‘‘I want a lower food cost, I want a lower labor cost, and I want this place
cleaned up.’’ Your workers are saying, ‘‘I can’t be here Friday night, that’s not my
job, get somebody else to do it, I want more money.’’ The customers are saying,
‘‘The food is cold, your service is slow, and your prices are too high.’’ And your
family is saying, ‘‘You’re never home, we never get to go out together, you don’t
have time to help us with our homework, what do you mean fix you a cheese
sandwich after you’ve been down there with all that food all day?’’ You work with
people all day long, and yet it is a lonely job.
3. Is it worth the cost? Is the work itself satisfying and fulfilling? Will you learn and
grow as a professional and as a person? Are you on the path you want to be on?
Do you want to be a manager enough to pay the price?
If your answer is yes, then pay the price—pay it willingly and without complaint,
pay it gladly. This may be the most important quality of all—to have the maturity
to decide what you want and accept the tough parts with grace and humor; or to see
it clearly, weigh it carefully, and decide you are not going that way after all. One
successful manager is Tim Stanton, a joint venture partner with Outback Steakhouse,
who is described by a colleague as being incredibly driven and extremely motivated,
detail-oriented, passionate about food quality, and demanding but fair.
Tips for New Supervisors
As we are beginning to realize, being a new supervisor can be a daunting task but it
can also be a stimulating and rewarding time of personal accomplishment. New supervisors
need to be prepared, particularly in the hospitality industry where we need
to ‘‘hit the ground running.’’
The following are some tips that you may find useful:
- Start as you mean to continue—meaning set you standards and keep them.
- Develop a game plan with your boss of what you and your employees are to achieve
and the best ways to go about it.
- Be you—don’t try and be someone else now that you have some authority. Be
objective, treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.
- Praise the good work that you and your team have done in the past.
- Your employees have needs—ask how you can help them do a better job.
- Begin getting a ‘‘feel’’ for the workplace by listening and asking questions. You may
see changes that should be made but don’t rush into making hasty decisions from
the get-go. It’s much better to solicit the ideas and questions from your team.
- Be positive, upbeat, and be ready to share the knowledge of your team and encourage
everyone’s participation.
- Outline the team’s strengths, accomplishments and the challenges ahead. Explain
that this will be a we-and-us, not an I-and-you situation, because as a team more
can be accomplished and obstacles can be overcome.
- Know the company’s vision, mission, goals, and strategies.
- Know the company’s philosophy and culture.
- Check the organization chart for reporting relationships.
- Check the budget—what are your budgeting responsibilities, what percentage is
discretionary, and what can be moved from one item to another?
- Know the policies and procedures but don’t be afraid to say ‘‘I need to check on
that and get back to you’’—but do so.
- Set a good example: arrive early, dress appropriately, and do not do personal
business on company time. Remember, your behavior, attitude, and work habits
will influence your team.
Before you became a supervisor you were in a position where you were aware of
the department’s goals and your own responsibilities but you were an individual whose
main concern was a contribution or doing your part toward the success of the department.
Now however, you are responsible for the work of others and a productive
team. Now is the time to determine your priorities and plan the work to be done.
The types of behavior that good supervisors and managers exhibit are described
in an article by Jim Sullivan as: earns the organization money; tells the truth; keeps
promises; excels at conflict resolution; teaches; evaluates then acts; makes people want
to work for them; runs business as if it’s theirs; is enthusiastic; and makes pre-shift
huddles mandatory.
As we progress through this article we will learn more about these an other types
of successful supervisor behavior. In the next article we examine supervisory
leadership.
Key Points
1. A supervisor is any person who manages people making products or performing
services. A supervisor is responsible for the quality and quantity of the products and
services and for meeting the needs of employees. Only by motivating and stimulating
the employees to do their jobs properly will supervisors ensure that high-quality
products and services are produced.
2. Using an organization chart, you can see line and staff functions as well as how
authority and responsibility are handed down from the top level of management to
the first-line supervisors.
3. As a supervisor, your own success depends on the work of others, and you will be
measured by their output and their performance. You will be successful in your own
job only to the degree that your workers allow you to be, and this will depend on
how you manage them.
4. As a hospitality supervisor, you have obligations to the owners, customers, and employees.
To your employees, you represent management. To the owners and your
bosses, you are the link with the workers and the work to be done; you represent
productivity, cost control, quality control, and customer service. You also represent
your people and their needs and desires. To the customers, you